Introducing s

Snake in the sand

 Teach

This is Kit.
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This is Sam.
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This is Mum
and Dad.
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One sunny day, the family went for a walk in the woods.
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They had not gone far when Sam heard a strange noise.
It was a s sound.
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There was a stripy snake hissing on the sandy path! It

hissed s as it slithered along.

X
Ask the children if they can hear what sound
the word ‘snake’ begins with. Teach the children
that ‘snake’ begins with s, makes a sss sound and
looks like the letter s too! Use a toy snake here
if you have one.

Click me for Kit’s teaching tips!

 Teach

“Look!” said Kit.

“The snake looks like a letter s and it makes the same sound
s.”
 Teach

“Yes!” said Sam. “Snake begins with the letter s too.”

 s
Teach

X
On the next slide, click on the flashcard many times
to alternate between the mnemonic and letter as the
children join in saying ‘snake’ and s.

Click me for Kit’s teaching tips! Play

s
Teach
 Teach

Action
Make a snake’s head with your hands and
wiggle your body like a snake!

Say ‘sss’.

X
Linking the phoneme, grapheme, mnemonic and action
helps children to make learning links.

Click me for Kit’s teaching tips!

 s
Teach

Write It, Feel It

Curl around and around the snake’s body.

X
Ask the children to switch their magic pens to silver
and write s in the sky.

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Play
 Teach

Let’s Sing!

(To the tune of ‘Aiken Drum’)

We saw a snake out in the woods,

s-s-s
s-s-s
We saw a snake out in the woods
And the snake went s, s, s.

Play Song
 Practise

Sam Says Snake!

Pretend to be a snake spotter searching around in the woods for
snakes. Sam says you have to stop and say, “snake!” when you see a
snake slithering, or “sss!‘’ when you see the letter s!

X
Ask the children to get up and move around while they
are snake spotting. Ask them to do the action for s too
when they see the letter s, or to lay down to be snakes
themselves when they see a snake.

Click us for Physically Active Phonics tips!

Practise
 Apply

When Kit and Sam got home, they looked for other things around
the house that had a s sound in their name.
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“Robot Rick is really good at robot-talking!” said Sam. “I

wonder if he can help us find the words with s in them.”
 Apply

Robot Rick Says s

Robot Rick can only talk in ‘robot-talk’. Listen to him saying the
sounds in robot-talk. Can you blend the sounds he says back
together to work out which picture has the s in?

X
Remember, you could do this activity practically with
real objects and our 3D Robot Rick.

Click me for Kit’s teaching tips!

 Apply

Play
 Apply

Well done!
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Play
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Well done!

X
Some children may be able to tell you
whether the s sound appears at the
beginning or the end of the word.

Click me for Kit’s teaching tips!

 Apply

Play
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Well done!
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Play
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Well done!
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Play
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Well done!
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Play
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Well done!
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“He is good!” laughed Kit. “If only the snake in the woods was
here too, they could make s sounds together!”
 Apply

X
Ask the children to find today's
sound on their sound mat.

Click me for Kit’s teaching tips!

Today, we have learnt…